Temporal Eating Patterns and Health Indices Among Older Veterans

Background: Chrononutrition encompasses the interaction of circadian rhythm, nutrient metabolism, and eating timing. Eating patterns that disrupt or misalign with circadian biology are known to have adverse health effects. Later mealtime patterns have been associated with negative health outcomes including obesity, depression, insomnia, diabetes, and hypertension, as compared to an earlier eating pattern. The current study examined temporal eating patterns measured by the Chrononutrition Profile Questionnaire (CP-Q) and its associations with several health indices among older Veterans. Methods: Vietnam Veterans (N = 342; AgeMean = 74.4; SD = 3.6) completed a survey (online or paper) of their eating behaviors and various physical and psychological health domains, as part of a larger cross-sectional study. Results: Veterans were mostly White (95%), male (97.7%), from the Army (55%), with some or two-year college (43%), and currently married (76%). T-tests comparing eating window midpoints of the participants across weekdays and weekends were not significantly different (p > 0.05), hence averaged. Both the mean and median eating midpoints were 14:00 h and the mode of eating midpoint was 13:30 h. Pearson correlation analyses yielded important associations. First, eating window midpoint was significantly positively correlated with night eating (r = 0.21), and pain level (r = 0.11). Similarly, eating midpoint was significantly inversely correlated with age (r = -0.17) and resilience (r = -0.11). Remarkably, eating window midpoint was not significantly associated with BMI (r = 0.02), posttraumatic stress disorder r = 0.03), emotional eating (r = 0.09), and obstructive sleep apnea (r = 0.02). Conclusions: The current study revealed associations between older Veterans eating timing and various health indices. Given that Veterans have a high prevalence of obesity and related health problems, insights on temporal patterns of their eating behaviors can inform tailored